ed21x's NYC Burger Review

[sactoking]

In N Out is good, not great.
White Castle is nasty.
Whataburger is below average.
Sonic burgers are nothing special, but the chili-cheese coney is decent and the chicken club toaster is good.

 

[DanTMWTMP]

heh, when I visited the east coast, I thought five guys was pretty decent. Of course, when burger hunting, I'd much rather hit up a really awesome mom-pop shop. That said, I still love In&Out .

Anyways.. that's one less person to leave OC. The 5/57/55 freeways are absolutely terrible whenever I drive up it from SD (not that one less car would make a difference). ugh... OC sucks . It's very mom-pop unfriendly. I'd much prefer Pomona for food and courtesy.

 

[JS80]

Best burger in the world = Father's Office burger.

 

[amish]

obligatory steak 'n shake

 

[soulcougher73]

Originally posted by: MikeyIs4Dcats
5 Guys in Kansas City is not that expensive and quite tasty.

Ive not been there yet but i did see one in Olathe i might check out.

 

[ed21x]

ok, i jusy got back from Shake Shack (currently typing in the NYPL on 23rd street, 5 minutes away). We have a new winner!! The Shack Burger was amazing, and each patty was equivalent to two In N Out patties, really juicy, really meaty, and the fries were awesome! They were of the jagged variety except thick and double fried. awesome stuff.

of course, there was a huge line outside, but thats always a good sign.

I think this will be the last time I spend over $8 on a fast food burger. Here in NY, this is a total rip considering the restaurants aren't more expensive and have better all around quality.

 

[Excelsior]

Originally posted by: ebaycj

Originally posted by: Xyclone
I was born and raised in CA, and try to stay away from fast food, but In N Out definitely has the best quality and tasting burgers as far as fast food is concerned.

Also, wtf @ the price. Is everything that expensive in the northern east coast? Example: I don't smoke cigs, but a pack of Parliaments (the shorter box) in So Cal is $4.7x. There's a thread here in ATOT in which a few people have said cigs are ~$10/box in NY?! Is this because of stricter tobacco sin tax in NY, or because of an [even] higher cost of living than in California.

I would say it's both. New York is friggin' expensive in general, and they love their sin taxes.

For the record, a pack of smokes in downtown Chicago was $8 last summer, and I heard on the news that per-pack taxes went up since then.

Yeah, the prices the OP is quoting are not comparable to other Five Guys locations. A double bacon cheeseburger at a Five Guys down south would be more like $5 or $6, tops. But they are pretty damn big, so I usually just get a regular/smaller burger at Five Guys.

 

[Legendary]

Originally posted by: ed21x
ok, i jusy got back from Shake Shack (currently typing in the NYPL on 23rd street, 5 minutes away). We have a new winner!! The Shack Burger was amazing, and each patty was equivalent to two In N Out patties, really juicy, really meaty, and the fries were awesome! They were of the jagged variety except thick and double fried. awesome stuff.

of course, there was a huge line outside, but thats always a good sign.

I think this will be the last time I spend over $8 on a fast food burger. Here in NY, this is a total rip considering the restaurants aren't more expensive and have better all around quality.

you should also try paul's burger joint on 2nd avenue between st. mark's (8th st.) and 7th st.

or corner bistro on W4th and 8th Avenue (due to the miracle of the West Village, this address is close to 8th avenue and 14th st. for your subway convenience)
corner bistro has the added benefit of superbly cheap beer

but shake shack is the top burger in NY (as burgers joint go)

 

[torpid]

We got a five guys here in madison a few months back. I liked the fries, but the burger was unimpressive. Culver's has better burgers, IMO. And In-n-out as well. The fries are worth going back for, although the last time I went there were some creepy people there. One group of guys had bloody shirts, and one guy in their group had his shirt unbuttoned for no reason - I thought I was in the movie Grease for a second.

 

[darkxshade]

Pauls Burgers at St Marks = the best

 

[meltdown75]

i have an offer to the first non-Canadian fast food chain that moves north of the border:

I WILL BUY A COMBO.

 

[CatchPhrase]

Is this a thread comparing the ground up cow parts of the east and west cost?

 

[compuwiz1]

"Those look like hamburgers....only smaller" (re: White Castle)

That's my take. What a friggin waste of time.

 

[nakedfrog]

Originally posted by: torpid
We got a five guys here in madison a few months back. I liked the fries, but the burger was unimpressive. Culver's has better burgers, IMO. And In-n-out as well. The fries are worth going back for, although the last time I went there were some creepy people there. One group of guys had bloody shirts, and one guy in their group had his shirt unbuttoned for no reason - I thought I was in the movie Grease for a second.

I love Culver's sourdough melt.

 

[nakedfrog]

Originally posted by: meltdown75
i have an offer to the first non-Canadian fast food chain that moves north of the border:

I WILL BUY A COMBO.

But will you get it AMERICAN-sized?

 

[Atomic Playboy]

Originally posted by: KingGheedora
I'm from Cali and living in NY now. Shake Shack on Madison and 23rd is the best burger I've had, it's up there with In N Out. Get the Double shack burger. Go before it's winter, all the seating is outdoor.

I don't know anyone who thinks Whitecastle is actually good.

Whoa, that freaked me out; I live on Madison and 23rd. I'm fairly certain I would have known if there was a place called "the Shake Shack" on my corner, unless that's the nickname for my place, in which case, booyah. Then I remembered that I don't actually live in New York, so this probably didn't apply to me.

Still pretty unnerving though...

 

[paulxcook]

Five Guys is good but way greasy. Not as expensive here as it is in NY apparently. I can eat there for $8 easy.

White Castle sucks balls, there is nothing redeeming about that place except the price.

 

[HeroOfPellinor]

Originally posted by: ed21x
ok, i jusy got back from Shake Shack (currently typing in the NYPL on 23rd street, 5 minutes away). We have a new winner!! The Shack Burger was amazing, and each patty was equivalent to two In N Out patties, really juicy, really meaty, and the fries were awesome! They were of the jagged variety except thick and double fried. awesome stuff.

of course, there was a huge line outside, but thats always a good sign.

I think this will be the last time I spend over $8 on a fast food burger. Here in NY, this is a total rip considering the restaurants aren't more expensive and have better all around quality.

I saw that place featured on FooD Network once. They have a camera you can access on the Internet to see how long the lines are. They also get their meat fresh each morning and it consists largely of brisket which is probably why it's so damn good.

 

[Chaotic42]

Originally posted by: ed21x
aww...c'mon, you and I both know that In N Out is as far from microwave quality as you can get. no need to get dramatic here. however, Five Guys and In N Out are similar enough that if you've had one, and then tried the other, you wouldn't think much of the other place. that is probably why i'm not all that excited about Five Guys despite it being a pretty good place.

No, it was about like a good microwave burger. Better than McDonald's, not as good as Burger King. I went there specifically because everyone on the forum raved. I had to drag my coworker there and neither of us were particularly impressed.

It wasn't bad, it just wasn't anything special.

 

[HannibalX]

Five Guys>Whataburger>Backyard Burger>In N Out.

 

[ed21x]

updated the OP.

currently (fast food only):

Shake Shack >> In N Out > Five Guys > Burger King > Carl's Jr > ********** >> dog food > that white crusty stuff in between my toes > White Castle.

 

[Pakman]

Five Guys > In N Out. In N Out tastes too much like your run of the mill fast food...

 

[meltdown75]

Originally posted by: nakedfrog

Originally posted by: meltdown75
i have an offer to the first non-Canadian fast food chain that moves north of the border:

I WILL BUY A COMBO.

But will you get it AMERICAN-sized?

you better believe it!! super-size my fries and give me an extra side of arrogance and imperialism

 

[The Boston Dangler]

a five guys opened near me recently. i stopped in today see what's what.

bacon cheeseburger w/ mushrooms, ketchup, mustard - $5.79
2 3.5 ounce patties, so-so generic seasame seed bun, several strips of bacon with actual meat, the canned, dark gray mushrooms i like, orange american "cheese", heinz ketchup and yellow mustard

large cajun fries - 3.99
potato skin, hot as hell, totally generic "cajun seasoning"

large coke - 1.99
fountain, not too bad

the signs on the walls bragged about what a great value the place was, but i managed to spend $11.77 + .59 tax on a cheeseburger, fries and a drink. knock off about $2 for plain fries and no bacon. you can save another $2 with a single patty, 1/3 of the fries and 1/3 of the drink. :roll:

me like:
burger meat was good
bacon and shrooms were good
small and large orders are suitable sized portions, except for fries

me no like:
bun was mediocre
the "cheese" was shitty. they need cheese options, or at least better cheese
cajun fries were blah
no brown mustard
not a great value at all, despite what the walls say. especially true for small orders.

would i go back?
yes, but not frequently

 

[Aquaman]

Take the 50 lbs challenge

Cheers,
Aquaman